Author Archives: VK5IR

August Fox Hunt: Friday August 6th @ 18:30

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Our next monthly fox hunt is scheduled for the evening of Friday the 6th of August, commencing at 6:30pm.

Hunters are invited to meet from 6:15pm at the starting location, being the southern end of the car park at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, Jeffcott Road, North Adelaide.

This hunt will again see us hunting a couple of 2 meter hidden transmitters throughout the Adelaide metropolitan area and one 70cm fox.

As usual, we will liaise to discuss our progress throughout the night on the club’s VK5RSB 70cm repeater.

This event is open to all interested parties, members and non-members so we hope to see you all there.

If you don’t have any fox hunting equipment but would like to get a taste of what it’s all about, feel free to send us an email as sometimes out hunters have a spare seat in the cars for others to tag along.

July Fox Hunt – This Friday Night!

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With the River Paddling Marathon behind us, we can return to our usual second Friday of the month fox hunts.

The next AREG fox hunt will be held this coming Friday night, July 9. The hunt will again commence from the southern end of the car park at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre.

Hunters are free to meet in the car park from 6.15pm with the foxes (beacon transmitters) being switched on at 6.30pm.

As always, everyone is welcome to join in and we invite you all to liaise on the VK5RSB 70cm repeater on 439.900 MHz (-5 MHz offset & 91.5 HZ CTCSS required on the input).

See you on the night!

Next Fox Hunt – 25/06/2021 – NEW START LOCATION

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Members and friends are advised that our next monthly fox hunt is scheduled for the evening of Friday, the 25th of June.

Due to noise on the 2m band at our previous starting postions, we have decided to try a new and more central starting loaction this month.

Hunters are to meet at the southern end of the car park at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, Jeffcott Rd, North Adelaide, from 6.15pm and our regualr 144MHz and 433MHz foxes will be activated and the hunt will commence at 6.30 PM.

As usual, all particpants are welcome to liase with AREG’s VK5RSB 70cm repeater on 439.900 (-5MHz 91.5Hz CTCSS).

Everyone (members and non-members) is welcome to join in and we look forward to seeing you on the night.

Next Event: Come and Try Fox Hunting & BYO Picnic – Sunday April 11

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The next AREG hosted fox hunt will be another hand-held foot hunt and BYO picnic on Sunday the 11th of April at Morialta Mukanthi Nature Play Space in Woodforde, commencing at 10.30am. This location has large area with plenty of places to hide the foxes, lots of shading, a BBQ area and public toilets onsite plus a fantastic kids playground.

AREG will deploy 6-8 hidden beacon transmitters on the 2m amateur band and possibly one 70cm beacon. The challenge will be to see who can find them the fastest!

To participate, just bring along your direction finding antennas and receivers. We will do staggered starts and you will be free to hunt the transmitters in any order you like!

If you haven’t got any ARDF gear of your own, AREG will have at least 1 or 2 loan sets of gear available, based on the very popular VK3YNG sniffer receivers, or we can arrange to buddy you up with one of the club members who do have equipment, so you can get a first taste of fox hunting ARDF style.

At the conclusion of the fox hunt, we will gather for BYO picnic lunch, so bring along your food, drinks and a chair or a picnic rug. This will be a family friendly event but children must remain under your supervision at all times. All members and visitors are welcome to join us. Don’t forget to SLIP, SLOP, SLAP!

AREG will most likely be gathered towards the rear of the park on the day but if you have trouble finding us, put a call out for VK5ARG on the VK5RSA or the VK5RSB repeater and we’ll guide to where we are.

Also, don’t forget that if you’d like to stay up to date with what we’re up to at AREG, why not consider subscribing to the AREG news mailing list. This is open everyone and all you have to do to subscribe is send an email to announce-subscribe@areg.org.au

See you there!

73

 

AREG Fox Hunt Fridays – February Hunt Report

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The second of our monthly fox hunts for 2021 was held last Friday the 12th of February.

Four AREG members set out to hunt the foxes down and we were also joined by guest Brian, VK5TBC.

The usual two 144MHz foxes were deployed by Grant VK5GR as well as a bonus ultra low powered 25mW 433 MHz fox, made from a repurposed ex Bureau of Meteorology Radiosonde.

The first fox was hidden by the banks of the River Torrens in Lockleys. The second was hidden in a tree on the golfing greens just behind North Adelaide Railway Station.

The third 70cm fox was hidden roughly 400 meters from from where the first 144MHz fox was deployed.

Sigtrax is a great mobile app for plotting bearings/beam headings when when out hunting the fox.

The 144MHz fox hidden in a tree on the North Adelaide gold course

 

The next fox hunt is scheduled for the evening of Friday the 12th of March. This hunt may see us start from a new location of stay tuned for more info!

 

AREG Foxhunts: Reminder Next Adelaide hunt TOMORROW (Friday) 6.30pm

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The next of our monthly fox hunts is scheduled for Friday the 12th of February. Hunters are to meet from 6:15pm in the car park at Lockleys Oval – Rutland Ave, Lockleys. As usual, this event is open to all interested parties, be it members and non-members.

This hunt will again see us hunting at least one and possibly two 144 MHz hidden transmitters throughout the Adelaide metropolitan area. The frequency of the fox(es) will be broadcast on AREG’s VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater on 439.900 MHz a few minutes before 6:30pm with all invited to liaise and discuss their progress on the repeater throughout the night (91.5 MHz CTSS tone required on input).

We look forward to seeing you there.

REPORT: AREG Handheld ARDF BBQ Picnic

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On Saturday the 9th of January 2021, AREG held its monthly fox hunt but rather than driving all over town to hunt the fox, this chase was on foot instead.

Eleven hunters ranging from children to adults set out to track the transmitters down with their handheld yagi antennas and receivers. With a forecast maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, the hunt was tough on all involved but a shady spot next to some barbecues provided a cool place to rest and mingle after the hunt.

The happy hunters

Seven 144 MHz radio transmitters were hidden, scattered over a distance of 700 metres along the River Torrens in Felixstow. Some were left hanging from tree branches, some buried under leaves, some under cars and even one was left sitting by the river bank.

Fox 5 with marker attached

These VK3YNG ARDF transmitters run on 2x AA batteries and can be heard from quite a distance away

 

 

 

“Biscuit”, the arduino powered fox utilising a Baofeng UV-B6 HT disguised in a wafer biscuit tin with magnet mount antenna on top

Each transmitter had a different coloured marker attached and hunters were required to cross out the corresponding box on their ARDF tracking sheets to prove they had found each fox.

 

Our next monthly hunt will be announced soon so be sure to check back with us here for more info.